BY DARRELL HALEN

A Pelham woman who told police a man broke into her Misty Lane home and tried to sexually assault her,  but later admitted to making up the story, won’t be prosecuted for filing a false report.

“During the investigation, some underlying issues came out concerning her and we don’t believe we would prevail in trial,” said Lt. Gary Fisher, the Pelham Police Department’s prosecutor. “The family is dealing with those issues.”

The woman, whom authorities are not identifying, told police that the man forced his way through a side door and tried to assault her during the afternoon of July 29 before fleeing.

The woman said the man was a stranger, but she provided a description: middle-age, brown hair, thin build, approximately 5 feet 6 inches, wearing blue jeans, black boots and a white tank top.

Police from Pelham, Windham, and Dracut, Mass., undertook a search of the area, including an extensive house-to-house search, but were unable to find him.

The woman had been treated for injuries at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua.

According to Fisher, a  laceration on the woman’s leg was actually self-inflicted.

Investigators became suspicious of the woman’s story when she was inconsistent in her description of the attacker.    

When the woman reported the attack, she told investigators that part of her attacker’s face was covered. But when she described him for a police composite, she described that part of his face, according to Fisher.

The woman could have faced as much as a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.